The Seventh Day, The Yellow Pony Rests
by KhamanV
Summary: Twilight Sparkle is thrilled to help organize the Royal Canterlot Library. But when a mysterious loss seems to mar the shelves, Celestia's attempts to protect her can't keep Twilight away from secrets best forgotten.


_The Seventh Day, The Yellow Pony Rests_

"_The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the pony mind to correlate all its contents." ~ Harpy Wordcraft, after an incident with the Dun Witchmare in New Sireland. See footnote at end of collection._

1. _The Play's The Thing_

"Spike."

He ignored his name, more interested in the sight before him. It was a zoisite; a gorgeous deep blue color with highlights that flared bright purple. A shimmer-glimpse of memory gave him a thought of the color of Rarity's hair and then vanished again into the dreamsea that roiled behind the huge gem. It would taste like a blueberry, Spike decided. A blueberry at first crush in any case; the facets of the gem shattering between his tiny but very sharp dragon teeth in a rich, juicy rush of _blueberry_ like no one had ever tasted, with fine, lingering notes of grape. The finest zoisite ever formed by the earth. A vintage. His nostrils flared and his mouth opened.

_"Spike." _The voice was far and twee and spiraled once like some distant black bird of the sea. Spike's jaw clamped shut and the image faded, lost. He shifted his body, only faintly sensing the distant weight of his actual form.

What was the gem again? He snuffled, looking around the mist for his dream. Ah, there it was. Citrine. He was _sure _it had been a citrine. A deep, almost burnished yellow-gold. It could have been an amber, but it was too bright a yellow, too bright a stone. Hard. Crisp would be the texture. Citrine. Yes. He knew the name and the texture would not always match the taste and he snuffled again, trying to get a grasp on the flavor. He licked his lips, noticing vaguely how heavy they felt.

"SPIKE."

His eyes snapped open, looking into upside-down eyes set into the upside-down head of Twilight Sparkle. He opened his mouth to say _Morning, Twilight,_ but what came out was "Banana cream." His jaw hung, slack. Oh, banana cream would be perfect for breakfast.

Twilight looked down at Spike, nonplussed for a moment that was long enough for his eyes to begin to droop shut again. "Spike, did you forget that we need to take the early train to Canterlot today?"

"Mwfhrm?" He creaked his eyes open long enough to notice that the sun was not yet up, then began to shut them again. "Fi' more minutes."

"No, Spike. We'll be late otherwise, and I promised Princess Celestia we'd be there right away to help with the library."

Right. Library. He remembered something about a library. "Big library," he said. The words did not sound like it would taste like banana cream and his half-asleep mind tried to dismiss them in favor of breakfasty dream gems.

"I'll get you a snack on the train. You like the snacks on the train, Spike."

Snacks. He opened his mouth and rolled the word. "Snaaaacks." Okay. He could do this. It was really early and that dream was really awesome – not that he could remember it now. Something about pie. Maybe. He shifted and blinked. "Library. We're organizing the library."

"Well, it's mostly already organized, but we're helping to make sure it's all in order and that nothing's missing." Twilight smiled, her eyes bright. It would be three of her favorite things in one day – books, organization, and time with Princess Celestia. Now if only Spike would _move. _She blinked, inspiration hitting. "Rarity said she'd walk us to the station; she's getting a shipment from Manehattan this morning."

The little dragon flung himself upright. "I'm awake!" he chirped. "Totally ready when you are!"

Twilight giggled and nudged him towards the door.

/~*~\

Canterlot's spires rose tall and grand; twinkling its pure light across the land for miles on the sunniest days, though this beauty was often lost on Twilight Sparkle once she got her hooves dug into the dimmer corners of the castle's interior. The royal library embodied the word _vast. _Her imagination constantly sparked at the real possibility of lost corridors, entire wings of books that had gone unseen for years. Perhaps generations! Meanwhile, though, she had its labyrinthine playground spread before her; wings dedicated to magic, to history, to legend. Shelves stacked high with enough words to sing for centuries enough. She knew she had a broad and goofy grin plastered on her face, she could tell by the knowing and friendly smirks Spike tried to wipe off of his own. It got bigger and goofier when Princess Celestia stepped down from a grand spiral staircase in the main hall. Oh, it was going to be such a _wonderful _day!

"My favorite student!" said the Princess. She bowed her graceful head just a little, letting her twinkling eyes show the rest of her pleasure at the sight of Twilight. "I'm so happy the two of you could be here so early."

"I think I'm even happier, Princess!"

"I think you just might be," she laughed. "Come. Octavo Binder is waiting for us with the lists. We'll get a fine head start before the rest of the volunteers arrive." She tilted her head down again, rainbow mane flowing in some unseen breeze. "We must be as patient with him as he is with us, Twilight. He is very old and he comes to the library very seldom now, and he loves it so much that it can be easy for him to forget about us ponies. It's a special day for him as well."

Twilight nodded, her enthusiasm nearly shaking the floor beneath her. If there was anything she understood, it was precious library time. Spike followed in her hoof-steps as she cantered behind the princess.

/~*~\

Octavo Binder's lists were books themselves – huge ledgers detailing the shelf and position of every book in the library. Smaller notations on each line seemed to be some sort of code indicating year written and year acquired for the library and other facts. Twilight couldn't decipher all the details, but it wasn't necessary to. The duty was to be simple enough – take a ledger to each section in turn and ensure that each book was in its proper place as categorized by author. Or, in the case of the ledger she had been given, no author. By title only. Octavo's old and rheumy eyes had looked her over with distant but not unkind assessment and had declared her fit to assist in what he clearly thought was a tricksome job. "By proper title only, and not the article," he'd stressed, and more than once. No As, Ans, The – as if she didn't know what an article was. But she nodded her head understandingly at each repetition, sure in herself and sure that his trust would not be misplaced.

Spike had been given a simpler, smaller ledger; he would start in beginner magics and later – Celestia had confided in her – he would be given a chance to work with the books on minerals. He vanished quickly between the stacks, stubby purple legs moving with the purpose only banana cream cupcakes could give. He'd been very insistent about the cupcakes when he'd spotted them on the train snack cart. Everyone had their joys. She giggled to herself and floated the heavy ledger close by.

/~*~\

Twilight worked tirelessly for the first two hours and then flagged slightly around the Ds and early Es. She nipped off to the center lobby for one of the little treats Princess Celestia had been sure to have on hand and worked straight through the lunch hour to get up to G and H. The stacks were in order, save for a few transpositions here and there and she was hitting her stride and her pride. She began the Ks – a surprisingly hefty set of shelves for an unassuming letter – and then stopped.

There was a gap. A slender, almost tiny gap just after _The Kings Game _and shortly before _Knights in Trottingham, _which frankly looked a little salacious but harmless. She pushed herself back onto her rear hooves slightly and made sure she was right. Yes, the books seemed to tilt slightly into the gap. Less than a centimeter for certain, less by half that more likely. She tilted her head and looked down at the ledger, unsure of herself. Something about it made her mind tickle. "Huh," she said out loud. The sound of her voice was startlingly loud amidst the silent stacks. She heard Spike rustle from somewhere close.

"You okay, Twilight?"

"Yeah, just... it looks like there's a book missing. I'm not sure, though. Maybe it's just spaced weirdly." Though none of the other shelves had any such flaw.

Another rustle and a creak; Binder's grey, smooth head came into view around a corner. "What's that you say, Miss?"

"Well, nothing sir. It just seems like there's a little gap here. Like something might be missing?"

The old pony's eyes crinkled with worry and he shuffled up and regarded the spot she indicated. "Hmmmmmmm." His eyes closed and his mouth began to purse, ground-down teeth chewing as if he could taste a memory. "Hm."

"It might really be nothing, sir." Twilight looked down at the ledger to check the names but glanced back up as Celestia approached. "I'm sorry, Princess. I'm making an awful lot of noise."

"It's no matter, Twilight. If something seems wrong, then..." Her voice trailed off, expression unreadable. "Oh. Oh, I see." She recovered quickly and smiled again, nudging _Knights _to its left with her magic. "Someone was just a little messy, I'm sure."

"Oh, most likely, Princess!" She felt relieved and glanced down at where the ledger sat on the floor. Celestia tugged it away with a hoof, but not before Twilight got a grasp on what had bothered her about it. The space between the listings were off kilter just once, halfway down the page. A tiny bit of extra space, just after _The Kings Game. _Nothing major. But it matched the gap. "Uh."

"Twilight, don't fret about it." Celestia's head came down to fill her view. The smile was gentle, but with the faintest touch of something else. Was it worry? "Let's go take a break for a few and have another snack."

"It was a play!" Octavo Binder snorted suddenly. "That's what it was. Some play." He seemed to ignore Celestia as she swerved her head around to stare him full in the face. "Can't have been worth a hay. Nobody ever performed it."

"Octavo-"

"Yellow, too. Lotsa yellow about it. Or something. Didn't read it." He shrugged. "No loss if that's what it was." He tilted his head, seeing something in the face of his princess. "If that's what it was." He cleared his throat. "Eh, maybe not. Forget about it, kid." He looked down into Spike's face. "Snack, eh, little fella?" He found obvious agreement there and left the two unicorns behind.

"Twilight, I'm sure, I am absolutely _certain _it is nothing." Celestia's voice was full of gentle reassurance. Magic closed the old ledger and the princess turned to face her student. "Come away, and let's have a little picnic."

Twilight opened her mouth once and then let it close again, her trust in the princess absolute. Of course it was nothing. She smiled and let herself be led away.


End file.
